"Take it, I don't need to work for free." On the way back, Fu Yuchi gave half of the ten copper coins that Fu Dan's mother had given him to Sun Miao'er.

Although it wasn't much, Sun Miao'er really didn't expect that her master would not only teach her medical skills but also pay her. Now, her family would finally have some income. "Thank you, Master!"

Fu Yuchi replied calmly, "You deserve it. I'm running out of some herbs in my medicine hut. Come to the hut early tomorrow morning, and I'll take you up the mountain to identify some herbs. Take Grandma Sun's medicine back with you first, so as not to delay the time."

“Okay, Master!” Sun Miao’er nodded eagerly, holding five copper coins in her hand. It seemed that recognizing this master was really worthwhile.

"Don't forget to bring some dry food. The mountain path is rugged and difficult to travel. We probably won't be able to get down the mountain until dusk," Fu Yuchi suddenly remembered something and added.

Isn't that simple? Sun Miao'er kept her master's instructions in mind. There's no such thing as a free lunch or a free reward. You can't be too polite to those who feed you. She definitely had to show off her skills.

"Is Uncle Liang home?" Sun Miao'er called out twice as she stood outside Uncle Liang's house.

The one who came out to answer was Liang Lao Er's wife. She didn't recognize Sun Miao'er yet, and replied with a smile, "My husband went out for drinks. And you are?"

“Aunt Liang, I am Xiaoman’s older sister, from the Sun family in the southeast.” Sun Miao’er took out a copper coin. “It’s late today, and I’ll miss the market. I wanted to get some fatty pork to take back and make something for Xiaoman, so I came to your house to ask.”

She noticed that Liang Erbo's wife was plump, well-dressed, and spoke with a smile, exuding a friendly aura.

It's amazing how important it is to have a skill these days. Uncle Liang, though illiterate, supported his whole family comfortably with his pig-slaughtering skills.

Upon hearing this, Liang Lao Er's wife remembered. "Oh, don't be so polite with me. I heard that you cured Er Ya's hand when it was bitten by a bug. Here, take this meat!"

Liang's wife took out an oil paper package from the house. "There's not much good meat left today, just some scraps. Take this first, and I'll let you know next time there's something better!"

Seeing this, Sun Miao'er, who had already received payment from Liang Lao Er last time, refused to accept it this time no matter what. If she really accepted someone's meat for free, it would be greedy. "Second Aunt, keep these two coins. If you don't accept them, I won't come to you again next time!"

When Liang's wife saw that Sun Miao'er was declining, she didn't insist on giving her any more money. She only accepted one coin as a favor. From the bottom of her heart, she felt that Sun Miao'er was a good person and not as bad as the rumors in the village made her out to be.

The mountains are damp and full of mosquitoes, so Sun Miao'er decided to prepare some simple food, preferably food that could be eaten without needing to be warmed up. She set her sights on the bag of flour, intending to make some steamed buns, but buns and steamed bread harden when they cool down, which would affect her thirst.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. A few bricks in the yard caught her attention. "Xiaoman, come and give your sister a hand."

Xiaoman brought over bricks, and Sun Miao'er stacked them into a square box shape. She cut a piece of old, thick elm bark, placed it in the middle of the bricks, hollowed out the bottom, filled it with firewood, and a simple oven was set up. Sun Miao'er was just following her own idea and didn't know how it would actually work, since it couldn't compare to those cement-framed ovens.

"Xiaoman, come to the field and help your sister pick some scallions. Remember not to pull them up by the roots, but to pinch them along the roots." Sun Miao'er was busy working and sweating profusely. She wiped the sweat off her brows, patted the dirt off her hands, and admired her masterpiece.

One good thing about scallions is that they can grow back after being pinched off. No matter how many you pinch off, as long as you don't damage the root system, a new clump will grow back in no time. And scallion oil filling is especially delicious.

After making the shortcrust pastry, the dough started to rise poorly as the weather got warmer. Sun Miao'er came up with a solution: place the bowl of dough in a bucket of warm water and let it rise over the cool water. She thought it might help.

The chopped scallions were mixed with the minced meat, sprinkled with sesame oil and coarse salt, and some spice powder was ground with a stone mortar. The mixture was already taking shape. Xiaoman was outside burning firewood to heat the stove, while all the ingredients were prepared.

Once the dough has risen, cut it into small portions, stuff them with meat filling, place them on a willow wood cutting board, and roll them out repeatedly with a rolling pin until they are thin like shoe soles. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. When the oven is almost hot, brush both sides of the dough with oil, stick them to the bark inside the oven, and bake for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before taking them out and flipping them over. After about two incense sticks' worth of time, a batch of sesame seed cakes will be baked and ready to serve.

"Sister's sesame seed cakes smell so good!" Xiaoman was already licking his fingers. In the past, when someone from the village came back from the county town, they would bring this kind of sesame seed cake. He had only tasted it before and did not know how it was made.

Sun Miao'er slapped away Xiaoman's outstretched hand, saying, "I'll save two for you; these are for my master."

"Waaaaah~" Xiaoman pretended to rub her eyes and started crying, "Since my sister has a master, she doesn't want Xiaoman anymore. She won't even give Xiaoman any sesame cakes!"

Sun Miao'er was too lazy to expose his little trick, and left another sesame seed cake. "Alright, this one is for you too. I can't give you any more. If you really want to eat it, I'll make it for you next time. Tomorrow I'm going to the mountains with my master. You take good care of Grandma at home and wait for me to come back."

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Sun Miao'er got up very early. Smoke rose from the houses in the distance, and the damp field ridges radiated coolness. When she arrived at the medicine hut, Fu Yuchi was already in the courtyard preparing herbs.

He squatted on the ground with his head down, holding a sieve in one hand. Because he got up early, he was only wearing an ivory-white undergarment. Sun Miao'er stood not far away, looking him over, but Fu Yuchi did not notice him.

Looking at him from this angle, Sun Miao'er noticed that he was also slender, and the upturned corners of his mouth looked more like a smile from her perspective. But she knew that this man wasn't really smiling; he just had a naturally harmless appearance.

"Master got up so early." Sun Miao'er couldn't help but say.

Fu Yuchi suddenly looked up and saw the girl dressed in plain clothes, standing in the misty sky, holding an oil paper bag in her hands. Even he, who was usually respectful, was momentarily lost in thought. "Well, I came back from a house call last night and didn't sleep."

"Thank you for your hard work, Master. If I had known earlier that there was such a skilled doctor like you in the village, Grandma's illness wouldn't have dragged on for so long." Sun Miao'er placed the oil paper package on the medicine shelf, where there was a herbal medicine book. She picked it up and started reading.

Fu Yuchi nodded. "I didn't know that Grandma Sun was sick. They saved my life in the past, but I came to Fushui Village and know their personalities, so I didn't want to bother them."

Actually, it was because he knew Old Lady Sun's temperament well; she would always repay kindness generously. However, given his status, he really didn't want to get involved with others. There were quite a few people who had been implicated because of him, and there was no need to risk the lives of innocent people.

It was precisely because he wanted to get as far away from those people as possible that he hid in this remote village, far from the reach of the emperor, so that those outside would never find him.